Aquatic Uncle

1. Are there any prominent symbols in the story? If so, what are they and how are they used?

Transformation and evolution/metamorphosis are the biggest symbols in the story that I can think of. Also the idea of the earth as an every changing/evolving thing, and the idea of choosing how you move through those changes. Qfwfq talkes about crocodiles choosing to stay where they were in history much like his Great-Uncle, and Lll chooses to go backward in her evolution and become a fish again while Qfwfq and the rest of his family choose to move forward to live on land. The idea of the unknown as well as the vastness of undiscovered places like the sea and land were also discussed.

2. What connections did you make with the story you read? Discuss the elements of thew work with which you were able to connect.

 I think the biggest connection I made was with the idea of choosing how you move forward and the fact that there are options and choices to how you do so. While I probably am not going to sprout a tail and gills, all people can choose to either evolve as they get older or choose to remain as they are. I also connected with the idea that sometimes the next new big thing is not always better than what was, and sometimes its ok to look to the past or to the older generation for ideas about what could work. Choosing how you evolve and how you want to move forward with your life.

3. What changes would you  make to adapt this story into another medium? What medium would you use? What changes would you make?

If I were to make this story into a visual representation I think I would choose an animated story or a childrens book. Because I would gear it towards children I think the great uncle would have to be changed to a brother or a friend because having someones fiance run off with their great uncle might be a little harder to understand. I would want to make it animated or drawn because I think there would be a lot of opportunities to visually represent the differences between land and sea animals and the different ways that creatures choose to evolve. I would also maybe make it clearer what kind of animals they all are and also the different ways that animals were adaptable at that time in history.